Newport to consider $125,000 for Civic Center sculptures

The Newport Beach Arts Commission is recommending a plan to put 10 to 18 sculptures in the Civic Center's empty sculpture garden. The public art project will be reviewed Tuesday by the City Council.JOSHUA SUDOCK, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

If you go

The City Council meets at 7 p.m. Tuesday in Council Chambers, 100 Civic Center Drive. Information: newportbeachca.gov.

NEWPORT BEACH – A plan by the city's Arts Commission to populate the Civic Center's now barren sculpture garden has a price tag of at least $125,000.

City Arts Commissioner Robert Smith said the commission voted unanimously in favor of the program, which he says would help bring in quality public art to the new $140 million Civic Center.

The plan, Smith says, involves obtaining from 10 to 18 sculptures from artists who would loan them to the city for two years. The artists would receive an honorarium of $2,500 each.

The money for this project, if approved Tuesday by the City Council, would come out of the general fund surplus, according to the staff report on the plan.

The proposal comes in the wake of a record-keeping error on the part of city officials, who acknowledged in May that they could not account for 33 works of public art. Officials said the art works were likely discarded over time because they were not worth much or were damaged and not worth fixing.

Commissioners have proposed "Inherent Magic" as one of the potential themes for the sculpture garden project.

"Art has the great power to set us on our heels and show us our very own Inherent Magic and what Newport Beach is all about," says a statement from the commission that is part of the staff report.

The city will be responsible for installing and removing the sculptures as well as maintaining them, Smith said. There is also the possibility of putting price tags on the art pieces so interested individuals could buy them, he said.

"If the council approves the project, we need to come up with a uniform contract between the city and the artists," Smith said.

Part of the expense for the project involves hiring a consultant to help screen the artist submissions and decide which ones are best suited for the space.

Smith said commissioners looked at other cities such as Palm Desert and North Hollywood that have run similar public art programs successfully.

"If you look at the best cities around the country such as Chicago and Seattle, they have strong public art," he said. "We have this phenomenal park in our Civic Center with wonderful vistas, which is designed to be able to display sculpture."

City Councilman Leslie Daigle said she would wait to hear the staff report and public comments before she makes a decision.

"I would be concerned about how we plan to inventory and curate these pieces of art, especially in light of the recent art snafu," she said.

Many types of art pieces, including oil paintings, acrylics, pastels, photographs, watercolors, a sculpture, mixed media and one weaving, went missing from Newport's inventory. Most were purchased or given to the city between 1972 and 1997. The pieces have a total value of $6,767, though 12 of the 33 lack purchase costs or values, according to city records.

The city has an agreement with the Orange County Museum of Art to help solicit pieces of public art for display at the Civic Center Park. City Manager Dave Kiff said the arrangement with OCMA involved procuring one large piece and several smaller ones.

"That is not the path we eventually wanted to head down," Kiff said. "This temporary exhibit is something we and the Arts Commission will handle well on our own. We still support OCMA and their efforts and there may still be collaborations in our futures, just not as described in the agreement."

If council members vote in favor of the commission's proposal, the city will have to cancel its prior agreement with the museum.

If the sculpture project is approved, the commission will send out a request for proposals from artists right away, Smith said.

The Newport Beach Arts Commission is recommending a plan to put 10 to 18 sculptures in the Civic Center's empty sculpture garden. The public art project will be reviewed Tuesday by the City Council. JOSHUA SUDOCK, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
A family of rabbit sculptures inhabit the park at the new Newport Beach Civic Center. JEBB HARRIS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
A sculpture of a rabbit looks down from the park as workers landscape the new Newport Beach Civic Center. JEBB HARRIS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Kids get their chance to play with 14 bunny rabbit statues at the new Civic Center park. Each bunny has a different color eyes representing a color wheel and the patches of green, planted 2 days ago, will eventually grow to a full lawn of grass. STEVEN GEORGES, FILE: FOR THE REGISTER
Uprooted II, a stainless steel and bronze sculpture that portrays mangled seaweed, graces the new Civic Center. The sculpture, crafted by local artist Sarah Wilkinson, will be on lease to the city for $750 a year. If the city wishes to purchase it after the year is up, the $750 will be applied to the purchase cost of $25,000, according to the staff report. COURTESY NEWPORT BEACH

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